Blueberries and Braces!

With June came a lot of fun.

We ended our fulltime schoolschedule
Beach Days Started
Morning Hikes
Lots of Swimming
Blueberry Picking Season
Braces

The Kids were very happy to meet up with old friends to go blueberry picking. It was a very hot morning but well worth it to pick fresh berries. The kids had a good time playing afterwards.

Jakob was so excited for some reason to get braces. He was a ball of nerves not knowing what to expect; he did so good while having them put on. He has a double cross bite so hopefully this will do the trick!

Mt McCoy Hike in Simi Valley

Today America celebrates Memorial Day, we pay tribute to those who have given their lives in honoring our nation's wars.

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.
                                 -Moina Michael

This morning we hiked the Mt McCoy trail with the kiddo and Peggy (mother in-law). The morning started off nice although it was pretty hot along the way. With the heat came complaints from the kiddos. Once we mad it to the the top the complaints dissipated a cool breeze came through and the kiddos took in the views. We had a complete beautiful 360 view of our valley; we could see the hanger at the Reagan Library with a great shot of Air Force One.

 As we were heading down the trail we took in all the wonderful wild flowers and and sights. I loved how the Yucca flowers looked against the bight blue sky. It really make me want to plant some and have out whole front-yard verascaped. Here is the Yucca bloom, there are some dead blooms as this is towards the end of the season for them.

Mikayla's 10th Birthday

Ten years ago today my life completely changed for the best when I became a mother for the first time to the sweetest little girl. I am so proud of the person she has become and wants to be. She fills our hearts with so much happiness and love. I am very sad that she is now in the double digits; it feels like yesterday when we brought her home from the hospital. 

She woke up today with the biggest smile on her face. It was so nice for her to have Anzia here on her actual birthday, it meant the world to her. She loved all her gifts and was so happy that she got the scooter she asked for. She was so gracious and even let her cousin build one of her new lego sets. The only thing that she absolutely had to have was her traditional birthday apple pie that we made vegan since we had Anzia.

Mikayla's Birthday Party

For Mikayla this year she wanted to have a craft party. It was such a cute theme, all the girls got to make all of their party favors, and they had a blast doing it. She was lucky and had her cousin down from Washington for her party, and Oma and Opa as well. The girls all had such a good time and when they were all done they crated some games of their own. All the little girls were so sweet and it was a blessing to have them all over. It was so fun to watch Mikayla open her gifts she was such a gracious host. I love her!

Jakob is 8......

Today is Jakob's 8th birthday! He woke up early and was ready to get his presents open. The lucky little guy ended up with more Lego's and a new skateboard. Mikayla was happy to make him pancakes and treat him like a king. After building a few Lego's it was off to the Moorpark skate park to test out the new wheels. His wish was to have corn dogs and fries for lunch so we made a pick-nick out of it. Since my boy is not into cake and desserts he wanted a turkey cheeseburger with candles in it, so he got it! I can't believe how fast he has grown, I wish I could slow time down. He is such a blessing to us!

   

Jakob's Lego Party

My little guy is turning 8 on the 14th, he just had his Lego party and it was a blast! This was the first year he had a all boy party. Up until this year the kids always wanted to have their parties together, this was the year of the split. It was so sweet Mikayla was the only girl invited; he couldn't imagine his party with out her. The kids all got to build police cars and race them along with other Lego inspired games . They all had a blast chatting all about Lego and their many builds. I know that Jakob really had a great time with all of his friends, he was grinning ear to ear all night.

April 2012

April came and went by so fast; the month started off with a hysterectomy for me. Not the best way to start a month off, especially a few days before Easter. My hospital experience was horrible and it allowed me to be home early. This was very stressful on the whole family; the good thing was I woke up in my own bed on Easter morning.

Because I was laid up it made for some firsts. Since I became a mom this was the first time I had to completely let go of everything and let others do my job. There were firsts for David as well. I woke up Easter morning kinda sad knowing we would not be having our typical Easter dinner. Silly I know, I just love traditions! David came to the rescue; for the first time he baked a chicken, made homemade gravy, mash potatoes, and all the sides. I was so happy and proud of his great job. See he can cook when he needs to, now knowing this he will just have to start cooking more dinners.

After Easter I was blessed with my mom coming down to help us out. It was planned for her to be here for a week; it was approaching the day for her to depart us and she sensed my fear of her leaving so she stayed for another week. I was so blessed! She helped in so many ways, it really kept us balanced. I am very thankful that she was so willing to do all that she did. I love her!

Thank you mom, Peggy, and Laurie for all your help, also thanks to all the families that supplied dinner for us and Stacy for putting the dinners together.

At the end of the month we decided to go camping in Carpinteria. David thought it would keep me from doing work around the house. My father in-law Don joined us for the beginning of the trip and we had a great time with him. He is so easy to camp with! It was great David also did all the cooking, and I did a lot of reading. Our friends the Hester's were also camping there as well, that was nice to spend time with them as well. Mikayla and Jakob had a blast in their new wetsuits and boards! I am so happy they love the beach!

My little Wahine!

My Happy Boy!

March 2012

March was filled with many fun events. The kiddos favorite had to be flying to the Pacific Northwest to surprise their cousin for her 8th birthday. My sister held Anzia's birthday celebration at the Great Wolf Lodge in Washington. That place was a blast and it was so fun to see the excitement in Anzia's face when we showed up to the hotel door. The hard part was as this was a water park so it was not easy capturing photos. Here is one from the hotel lobby....

 

After all the fun settled from our adventure north we regrouped and got back into the swing of schooling. With that came a field trip and we set sale to go whale watching. Although we didn't get to see any of those large majestic creatures we did get to see a few others. We started off with a view of some harbor seals; I would say that the big dude in the middle posed well!

After we set off past all the harbor jetties there were a few sea sick kiddos on board as the water was pretty choppy. As we did not get to see any whales we were blesses by witnessing a mega pod of dolphins. The crew that was on board informed us that it was 3 miles wide and it was amazing. Dolphins were shooting out in all different direction and causing such a stir in the ocean. This was well worth the trip.

Hollywood Blvd.

So the kiddos have been wanting to go see the walk of fame and all the stars and footprints. We saw it all and they were so happy to see their favorites.

So for some reason my sweet little girl LOVE'S Celine Dion. That is one performer that I would cringe when I would hear her music. Go figure through my daughters love of her music I grew to like her. Mikayla was so happy this was the first star she saw.

This was one of Jakob's highlights, he loves Micheal Jackson's music so much. If his music comes on the boy gets his jig on. I love the fact that he was so proud to pose next to this.

Of course this photo was a given!

My beautiful babies!

Molly

So we decided to get Shadow a friend to cheer him up. As you can see in the background that is not the case yet. She is such a sweet little dog! We shall see how this all turns out as we are going through the motions of a puppy yet again. We have been seeing bursts of energy from Shadow so this is a step in the right direction. Wish us luck!!

First Stripe on our Yellow Belt!!!

Today the kiddos got to do their first belt testing at their new Dojo. There were many nerves flowing through these little minds today in preparation for the event. Nana and Papa, along with Tim and Laurie made it for support. They both got a strip on the yellow belt.

LegoLand

Oh boy, these kids have an addiction to Legos something fierce. They have been begging us for years to take them, and we finally gave in with 2 days at Legoland. We had such a great time in Carlsbad having fun living life through he kiddo's eyes. The park was so amazing; beyond what we imagined. The detail through the whole park made us feel like we were in a toy store.

The kiddos had saved all of their Christmas money and blew it at the store. They both got kits that they have never seen before so it felt so special to them. Since we were able to go for 2 days we went to the Hotel early so daddy could watch the Super Bowl; they were happy tinkering with their Legos. Family time is priceless!

San Pedro

We were invited to go to a birthday party in Palos Verdes so we decided to make a field trip out of it. We too the kiddos to the Point Fermin Lighthouse and the site of the The Korean Bell of Friendship. The kids had a blast over looking the beautiful Pacific and taking in the park. I love that we can take time on the weekday's to see the sites when others are not around. The beautiful wonders of homeschooling!  The party to follow completed our beautiful adventurous day.

Keepers Tea Party

Today was my Keepers of the Home Tea Party. We had a "Happy Un-Birthday" theme where we celebrated all the girls birthday's all at once. They also had their secret sister reveal; they did such a good job at keeping it a secret, pretty good for a group of 9 year old girls. I also did their the awards ceremony at the end and they received their pins and lanyards. They are all such a special group of girls, I am so blessed to have them with me twice a month.

Make a picture slideshow

A day at the CA Science Center

We went to the CA Science center to see the IMAX movie "Born t be Wild"; great film loved it, and I recommend it for kiddos. We had such a good day. We took in a few exhibits on subjects we have been studying lately. The kids were amazed by the Apollo Command Module, we can't wait to see the Challenger once it is all set up. 

Black Bird CA Science Center

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Black bird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
all your life
you were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

MCP Action Free Camera Giveaway

MCP is having a camera giveaway...

It just takes a minute to focus on this. MCP Actions is giving away a professional d-SLR camera. The winner of our contest will choose from a Canon 5D MKII + 85 1.8 Lens OR Nikon D700 (Body Only).

Click the link below:
http://bit.ly/AgETLE

This is our Best Friend

So when you look at him he appears to be healthy. NOT! He looks so cozy in the widow basking in the sun. Tomorrow I will be shearing his fur down because of his allergies. It is so sad I have Cocker that can't have pretty hair. I wish he was healthy!I love love my Shadow!

A Girl's Best Friend!

So the cliche term of Mans Best Friend refers to a dog. I am sorry but the dog can be adored and loved by a woman as well. In my daughter situation it is a chicken that fancy's her. They love her and follow her everywhere and she loves them back. I never thought I would be the owner of chickens in my little suburb life. I love it, I love my eggs, and I know what my hens are eating. They are such little characters; they just keep my days interesting.

Open Hole!

My Jaker's lost a tooth today!!!  Used this  picture in the Paint the Moon Project 52 for week 2 in the open theme. Hence the hole in the mouth. :)

Anzia is in town!!!!

The three cousins are so happy to be together. I love the fact that they pick up right where they left off every time they get back together. They have a love for each other that never seems to get lost in the distance from one another. 

I was so sad to see how big  my niece has gotten. Time flies by so fast; before you know it she will be all grown up. This picture is one of my favorites from her visit. The kiddos decided to play light-sabers in the back yard in the dark; I love how Jakob's face is illuminated. He looks like a true Jedi. I did not enhance the shot at all it was a SOOC (straight out of the camera). So fun!

Here is another from the morning she left; Jakob is still not yet wake. The kids all love each other so much!  I love them all and I miss Anzia so much already!

When your tree gives you lemoms!

So my sweet daughter woke up and desired to make a lemon meringue pie. I was not in the mood, nor did I want to put the time, plus I am still working out my caffeine free life and still experiencing the head aches. I told her if you find a recipe that includes every thing we have in house and I don't need to go to the store we can do it.

She found a recipe! OYE! So we had everything she needed! NO, screamed in my head! We had the lemons on the tree, we had the eggs from our hens, and we had all the other ingredients. She was in heaven, then she realized how tedious the recipe was, yes I  made her follow through.

Here are the pictures:

 Here is my baby getting the home grown lemon juice.

 Ok,our lemon curd took 1 hour longer than the recipe called for, I think because we used raw unbleached sugar, so worth it.

 You missed the egg shots because the fingers were a mess!!!

 The finished product!

...and it was yummy!

Christmas

Christmas Eve was so fun the kids got to open all their gifts from Oma and Opa, and Papa Don. Lots of clothes and Lego’s quickly filled our small family room. It was such a treat to have Oma and Opa here for Christmas. 

Christmas morning we were woke by two extremely excited kiddos at 5:30 AM. Next year we will better plan for this. Everyone started their day off early, the kids had a ball. They had their gifts opened so fast. Jakob was so excited about his skateboard ramp and gun, and Mikayla fell fast in love with her new doll and roller-blades. 

The kids got to rest a bit and it was time for Nana and Papa to come to dinner. We all had such a wonderful time. There is always so much prep involved with Christmas, I wish it lasted as long as it took to prepare. It all breezes by way too fast. I just hope next year I am not so tired from playing Santa and then being woken up so early. :) That is all part of the fun right?

A Magical Crowd

So every year we go to fight the December Disneyland crowds. This year we had a blast, we got to ride many rides, see the shows; all on a sold out day. We had a blast! While sipping hot coco and coffee we camped out on the cold cement to see the holiday firework show. There is just something about Disneyland that puts a smile on my face, even though we go all the time to me doesn't seem to get old. I love it! Can't wait to go back on a non-holiday Wednesday when it is empty!

New Slippers...

So today I came home to a package at the door. It was a gift for me; from my sister. They are the cutest handmade all vegan slippers. I love them!

Thank you Steffi, Flippy, and Izzy!